title: "Always a Catch! starts strong with Spring 2026’s most chaotic sweetheart" excerpt: "Always a Catch! looks like a villainess anime at first, but episodes 1-3" win with Mimi’s pure chaos, heart, and a surprisingly sweet royal dynamic. category: anime date: '2026-04-19T10:01:59+08:00' author: Aimirul tags:
- Always a Catch!
- Spring 2026 anime
- anime
- fantasy romance
- first impressions featured: false coverImage: /images/anime/always-a-catch-starts-strong-with-spring-2026-s-most-chaotic-sweetheart.jpg
If you went into Always a Catch! expecting another villainess-style fantasy, episodes 1 to 3 immediately tell you, nope, that is not what this show wants to be.
The setup deliberately baits viewers into thinking it will follow familiar otome and noble-drama beats, complete with a public denunciation scene and all the usual high-society tension. But instead of turning into a revenge story or a court-politics meltdown, the series leans hard into the sheer force of its heroine, Mimi Annovazzi, and that is what makes this opening stretch work.
Mimi, whose real name is Maria, was originally raised as the heir to the Annovazzi ducal family. That changes when her younger brother Teodorico is born. A more typical fantasy lead might resent being pushed aside because of gender, but Mimi does the exact opposite. She adores her little brother, accepts the change, and decides this new freedom means she can focus on a different goal, finding herself a proper “catch,” basically the most desirable husband she can land.
That goal sends her to a larger neighbouring kingdom to stay with her old friend Aida. On paper, she is there to improve herself into more of a noble lady while also scouting for marriage material. In practice, Mimi is the kind of person who changes every room she walks into before the room can change her. That is the big charm of these first three episodes. She is loud, earnest, sincere, and completely unable to fake a more polished version of herself.
And honestly, that is why the show clicks.
When Prince Renato publicly denounces the wrong girl, Mimi does not freeze up or play the tragic victim. She tells him to get glasses. When Rosalia comes in with bully energy, Mimi gets distracted by the chance to meet someone new and learn about perfume instead. Even when things get serious, like rescuing a cat from a tree, saving the queen from an assassin’s arrows, or getting caught up in royal chaos, she still acts like herself. No mask, no secret manipulation, no fake sweetness.
For Malaysian and SEA anime fans, that makes Always a Catch! feel extra refreshing. We get a lot of fantasy romance shows every season, and plenty of them live or die based on whether the lead girl has any real personality beyond the gimmick. Mimi has personality for days, bro. She does not just carry scenes, she bulldozes through them.
The other interesting part is how Renato starts responding to her. It is not just that she scolds him. It is that she treats him like a normal person instead of royalty. Her attempts to help him sleep come from genuine concern, not ambition. He, in turn, gives her something not many others seem to offer, simple emotional space. After Eleanora kidnaps Mimi in episode two, Renato tells her she must have been scared. Whether she actually was or not, the important part is that he acknowledges she is still human, not just some unstoppable ball of energy.
That said, the first three episodes are not perfect. Renato moving toward an engagement without properly asking Mimi what she wants is still a red flag. He may fit her definition of a “catch,” and she may not openly resist the sudden turn, but it still lands a bit rough. There is also the issue of how physically affectionate he is, especially when Mimi seems uncomfortable at times. So while the chemistry is promising, the show does leave some room for concern.
Visually, the anime makes a decent first impression too, even if some of the action animation reportedly loses a bit of the weight in Mimi’s skirts during fight scenes. Still, the overall result sounds lively enough to keep viewers invested.
For SEA fans choosing what to follow this season, Always a Catch! looks like the kind of fantasy romcom that stands out because it refuses to behave exactly like its genre cousins. If the series keeps building around Mimi’s wild sincerity instead of sanding her down into a standard love-interest magnet, this could end up being one of those under-the-radar seasonal favourites people start recommending in group chats.
Source: Anime News Network